Balance Sheet Analysis Of The Coca Cola Company Finance Essay

Balance Sheet Analysis Of The Coca Cola Company Finance Essay Introduction: Coca-Cola The Coca-Cola Company is one of the worlds largest and most diversified nonalcoholic beverage companies. It owns or licenses and became market leader with more than 500 beverage brands, prominently sparkling beverages. It also have a variety of still beverages like waters, juices, enhanced waters, juice drinks, ready-to-drink coffees and teas. Moreover, it has sports and energy drinks too. Along with Coca-Cola their identity drink, Coca-Cola owns four of the top five most famous nonalcoholic brands including diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite. Coca-Cola is one of the most valuable brand names in the world. Finished beverage products of Coca-Cola brand have their origin from United States since 1986. Coca cola has the worlds largest distribution system for beverages. They operate though company owned or controlled bottling operations. Approximately 55 billion beverage servings are sold worldwide each day, Out of which approximately 1.7 billion belong to coca cola   Coca cola attributes their success to its ability to connect with consumers desires, needs and lifestyles. That is the reason why the firm provides its consumers with a plethora of options to choose from. The company uses its assets its brands, unrivaled distribution system, financial strength, talent and strong management commitment-to create value for its stakeholders and associates. Financial Statements Balance Sheet Asset Current Assets Current assets usually include cash and some other type of assets that usually get converted into cash with normal course of time within an operating cycle. Operating cycle is important terms in current assets as it refers to a period between acquisition of raw material and cash realization cycle time of finished goods sale. Operating cycle usually posses cash cycle and inventory cycle which also shows the amount of current asset and current liability which affirm usually have. More the cash conversion cycle, more will be inventory therefore current asset and less of real revenue. Seeing this can say that there is 20% rise in current assets. It rose from $2354mn to $2650mn. Cash Cash is just money available for any contingency. Company kept it just as a buffer to meet their short term liquid fund need. It is usually listed a first item in balance sheet as it is highly liquid and normal accounting rule suggest listing as per descending order of liquidity.Cash and cash Equivalent has increased as compared to last year from $7021 mn to $8517 mn in 2011. Short term equivalents has also increased from $2130 to $2682 mn Marketable Securities These investments are kind of temporary investments usually made from extra cash company have. These are highly liquid can be cashed anytime that is why they can are usually considered cash equivalent and also comes in category of Current asset only. Sometime it is done due to government obligations only. Here seeing the Coca-Cola Marketable securities we can say that it gets doubled in 2011 than 2010.Figures changed from $62mn to $138mn.Usually Marketable securities and other assets constitute a tradable securities. This tradable security has taken a huge jump from last year to this year. It has changed from $61 to $209. This more than 200% change has shown that company has fairly utilized it extra cash to get some interest and monetary benefit. Accounts Receivable Simply, accounts receivables are the sum owed to a firm and are written on balance sheet by use of promissory notes. Account receivable is bills owed to you by your customers. They magnitude depends upon the collection ways company have and credit period company has. This is the actual amount yet to be collected from customers. From the given figure below in the table we can say that account receivable has been increased from $3700 to $4400 in last one year. This means that company has either increased the collection cycle or its started giving more good on credit to fight against competitors. Inventories Inventory are the good company has unsold or unmade into final product. Inventory is of different types like raw material, semi-finished goods and finished goods. Usually inventory is not good as this is the product which is their left unsold and their cost incurred in raw material and processing are the cost you losing as opportunity cost. From the below figures we can say that Companys raw material inventory more or less remains the same but companys finished goods inventory has increased from $1029 to $ 697.This means that company has either made extra goods than it can sell or Coca-Cola was not able to sell as per the last years estimates. Prepaid expenses There are expenses like payments need to be given for service we have availed or the payments we have to give for the supply of materials. These payments are sometime made in achieve supplier loyalty or goodwill. Companys prepaid expenses shows an increment from $2226 to $3162 which means that company Coca-Cola has prepaid to its supplier or insurance premium more than last year. This strategy companies usually follow to get their supplier be loyal and should supply on time. This strategy also comes into play in case company wants to remove extra hassle of paying insurance premium again and again Investments Investments are kind of cash funds or securities which Company holds for a particular purpose for a usually indefinite period of time. Term Investments usually include stocks Bonds corporate hold another company, Real estate Mortgages that corporate hold for income-producing aims. Money that corporate may keep holding for pension fund. Investments can be either amortized cost or have fair value. Investments usually in debt securities for which Company has positive intent and has ability to hold till maturity are usually carried at kind of amortized cost and generally classified as held-to-maturity .Those not coming in this category are generally carried at fair value and can be classified as either available-for-sale or trading. Trading securities are reported as either marketable securities or other assets in our consolidated balance sheets. Coca-cola Investment patterns shows that they have major portion of their investment mainly in Equity method Investment. Their investment in equity is around 10% of the total asset and 90% of the total investment Property, Plant and Equipment Property, Equipments and plants are the real fixed asset and always come under this category. Plant asset include buildings, land, equipment and machinery which are generally used in business operations. These things usually stay for a longer period that is why they are called fixed asset and their requirement usually doesnt change with the number of unit manufactured. On December 31, 2010, date of balance sheet reference, the carrying value of Coca-Cola equipment, plant and property has net of depreciation that was approximately $14727 million which was around 20 percent of Coca-Cola total asset. Usually, this dip is caused by depreciation, impairment loss and revaluation of assets. May be even in Coca-Cola is he same reason. Intangible Assets: Goodwill, Trademarks and Others Intangible assets are usually classified into three categories: Intangible assets having definite lives subjected to amortization, Intangible assets having indefinite lives that are not subject to amortization, Goodwill. Usually, for intangible assets having definite lives, Impairment test must be performed to check out whether accounted value is correct or not as many of these highly valuable intangible assets lose their value with time due to obsolescence. The following table carries values of intangible assets that got included balance sheet (in millions): Coca-Colas Intangible asset shows in table that their goodwill is the major thing which they can boast of. Goodwill constitutes 16% of all the intangible assets which is logical only seeing the greatly history of Coca-Cola since 18th Century. Bottles franchise rights come close second with 10% of all intangible assets. By the way most of these intangible things are not recoverable until and unless somebody buys it. Other Assets At the time of preparation of balance sheet, there are conditions that the asset cannot be classified into any of the category such as investments, current assets, intangible assets or plant assets. These types of assets are therefore listed on balance sheet under section other assets. Seeing Coca-Cola Balance sheet and Notes thereafter we can say that these unclassified other assets also increased in last one year by around 10%.It got changed from $1976mn to $2121mn in 2011. Liabilities Liabilities are the sum which company is obliged to pay. For Coca-Cola, the liabilities are like given below: Contingent Liabilities Three examples of contingent liabilities include Warranty of companys products The Guarantee of other partys loan The lawsuits that is filed against a company Basically, Contingent liabilities are considered potential liabilities. Since they are dependent upon future events occurrence or nonoccurrence, they can or cannot get converted into actual liabilities. Coca-Cola has, as can been through its Contingency liability Note snapshot, has contingency liability due to Guarantee to its third party customers. Coca-Cola has made some guarantee withn bottlers and vendors regarding buying and selling assurances which can become liability in case company is not able to fulfill his terms already agreed. The amount is approximately $683 mn. Other contingent liability which Coca-Cola has is in term of legal liability. It is a legal obligation as per a company Aqua-Chem which is asking Coca-Cola to pay $10mn out of pocket. This problem get created as Aqua-Chem was earlier owned by Coca-Cola and its now owned by someone else and who is blaming Coca-Cola for some defective gasket-asbestos. Current Liabilities If the company has payable loans then the principal to be paid in next one year is considered as current liability and all the other things will be considered as long term liability in balance sheet. Over and above this, whatever interest is charged as part of loan will be considered in income statement only not in balance sheet. Only the due interest will be considered as liability in balance sheet. Current Liability of Coca-Cola has increased recently from $13721mn to $18508 mn. The main difference has come only because of the maturity of some long term debt company has taken earlier. Long Term Liabilities Owners Equity In finance or accounting, equity is considered as the residual claim or can be said to be the interest of most simple class of investors that have invested money in assets. This is money which is paid to these investors after all the liabilities are paid. If assets are more than liabilities, than it is the case of negative Equity. The owners equity is always subdivided in the balance sheet under the liability column. One of the parts represents the money invested by investors as paid-in capital and any part of retained earning converted into paid-in capital of the company. The other part shows net-earning money usually retained of the company. Usually, stockholders, or owners, dont become personally responsible for the debts that a company contracts. A stockholder can lose his investment most of the time, but creditors cannot look to their personal assets for the satisfaction of their usual claims. Normally, the stockholders can withdraw with cash dividends as an amount measured as corporate earnings. But creditors dont. Stockholders Equity Misc Stocks Options Warrants Redeemable Preferred Stock Preferred Stock Common Stock 880,000  Ã‚   880,000  Ã‚   Retained Earnings 49,278,000  Ã‚   41,537,000  Ã‚   Treasury Stock -27,762,000 -25,398,000 Capital Surplus 10,057,000  Ã‚   8,537,000  Ã‚   Other Stockholder Equity -1,450,000 -757,000 Total Stockholder Equity 31,003,000  Ã‚   24,799,000  Ã‚   Relevant Notes Usually, all the information which is relevant for the investors cannot be included in the financial statement. There is some information in the financial statement which is shown just under a category without any explanation. But as part of Annual report everything should be clear and transparent therefore notes are included. Notes are actually included in order to reveal something of importance in addition to what is already there in the financial statements. Notes can be of importance to the investors who are willing to know more about the company or those who faces problem in understanding the main financial statements. The note reference is mainly to allow clarity in the annual report about the financial statements. Below given statement shows the use of notes in the balance sheet. Here the definition and calculation part of BASIC NET INCOME PER SHARE will be there explained in the notes told to be referred. Significance of structure of Balance Sheet Structure of balance sheet is also important part of the balance sheet. Basic accounting convention shows to present the balance sheet in two major ways. One way to present the balance sheet is to present it is Horizontal presentation (account form). Other form of presentation will be to present it in Vertical presentation (Report form). Though there are two forms, Vertical report form is mostly used and is famous. Disadvantage with the vertical form is that it doesnt confirm typical explanation among investment literature about the balance sheet should have two sides that shows balancing out of two sides. We can see here Coca-Cola has followed vertical form of balance sheet only usually followed by corporate. One more thing is which section should be considered first and which at later point of time. Usually, in asset sections, the accounts are taken in the descending order as per their liquidity Means most liquid asset will be taken first then the next level of liquid asset. In the same way liabilities are written in the order of priority for payment. Usually, in financial reporting, the term short-term and long-term is synonymous or interchangeable with the terms current and non-current items respectively. That is why the asset part of balance sheet of Coca-Cola has followed decreasing form of liquidity. Cash being most liquid followed by marketable securities this is followed by Investments and Intangible assets like goodwill coming at last. These intangible assets come at last because they are the most illiquid fund which cannot be cashed until and unless firm is sold or acquired. Trend Analysis of Coca-Cola of five year duration If we check out the performance of Coca-Cola over five years, we can say that on most of the parameters of Coca-cola is showing consistently downward trend. Current Asset has decreased from $2230 mn to $3800 mn in last five years. Total Equity has been fluctuating in this period of five years from a low of $ -35 mn to high of $ 4500 mn in 2006.Total Asset has been decreasing $23366mn of 2006 to $8596mn in 2010. Good thing is that total liability has also decreased for $ 18000 mn to $5 453 mn. Total Debt has been reduced to its one-fifth in these five years. Conclusion Coca-Cola is doing well in 2010. The company is totally out of slowdown that was there since recession. It has its hard-earned goodwill in the market which the company is cashing through higher purchase making higher profit. Its market Capitalization has reached $153Bn recently and its enterprise value has reached $168Bn in May 2011. The company has became the epitome of globalization with so much of expansion and diversification that Coke is the second most recognized word after Ok.

Government and Politics - Promoting Global and Regional Security in the Post-Cold War World :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Essay is 1507 Words  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The post-cold War world presents an interesting paradox. Conflicts are becoming increasingly local while the world is becoming increasingly interconnected: although conflicts are on a smaller scale, their ramifications affect all nations. In addition, better technology means that the American public is better informed and more eager to intervene, yet at the same time, foreign aid is being drastically cut. The United States does not have the resources to intervene in every conflict or to solve all the problems in the conflicts it does intervene in. Therefore, the U.S. must set priorities, finding a balance between its national security interests and other concerns. In two cases, the drug-fueled civil war of Colombia and the withdrawal of North Korea from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the U.S. correctly intervened to promote regional and global security. However, in both cases, the U.S. mistakenly limited the effects of its efforts by put ting humanitarian concerns before security.    Prioritizing foreign policy objectives can be difficult because there are many to choose from. Many believe that the U.S. should act as the world's policeman, seek to stop human rights abuses, provide humanitarian aid, or work to build democracies. While these are certainly admirable goals, the truth is that the U.S. can often do little good, and sometimes aggravates the problem with intervention.1 The U.S. should instead work to promote both global and regional security. In the long run, this is the only way to achieve the goals mentioned above. It is the best way to promote U.S. interests. Although other domestic concerns, such as building democracies or promoting human rights, should be considered in every situation (and are often integral to the problem), when these concerns conflict with the promotion of global or regional security promoting security must come first. The U.S. must be careful not to jeopardize its attempts to promote global and regional security because of differ ing domestic concerns.    There is much policy overlap between pursuing regional and global security. This makes sense; in order for there to be a stabilized world, there must be stability at all levels, and regional instability can quickly lead to global instability in the increasingly globalized world.2 The overlap can be most clearly seen in the objectives behind U.S. intervention in Colombia and North Korea, the fight against drugs and the fight to stop nuclear proliferation, respectively. No one doubts that drugs have negative effects on society, and when one country, such as Colombia, produces eighty percent of the world's cocaine, drugs are very destabilizing globally.

English Is the Only Foreign Language Worth Learning

English is the only foreign language worth learning I likely diasgree with this statement. Every language is worth learning because it is how we communicate with each other. English is third most spoken language in the world, after Chinese and Spanish. I think English is leading language on this planet because Chinese and Spanish are spoken only in few countries. There are approximately 370 million native English speakers all around the world. On top that, there are roughly the same amout who use English as second or third language.And let’s not forget about technologies. Nowadays, it’s hard to find a device without built-in English interface. Is is also considered as the language of international business. In my honest opinion, I’d recommend to learn as many languages as possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s French, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin, Korean or any other language. It breaks the language barrier between people. Few years ago, some teacher of mi ne told me that I have to learn as many languages as possible because it is my treasure. The treasure that cannot be taken away from me.Since then I usually visualize language as a key that unlocks the world to me. Knowing other languages greatly increases the number of people on the globe with whom you can communicate. You can have friends, pen pals and spouses from all over the world. In addition, people with multilingual skills look more attractive to employers. Chances are that knowing languages will open up employment opportunities that you would not have had otherwise. With greater language skills you can easily raise the amount of your salary.There are other advantages of learning languages. If you know foreign language it gives you the opportunity to step outside your comfort zone and have a deeper understanding of foreign cultures through books, songs and other aspects of culture. Any language is wonderful way to expand your horizon. In conclusion, we are only in the beginn ing of the journey through our life. Let’s not waste our time and learn languages so we can interact with as many people as possible. Any new language is a new opportunity for you. English Is the Only Foreign Language Worth Learning English is the only foreign language worth learning I likely diasgree with this statement. Every language is worth learning because it is how we communicate with each other. English is third most spoken language in the world, after Chinese and Spanish. I think English is leading language on this planet because Chinese and Spanish are spoken only in few countries. There are approximately 370 million native English speakers all around the world. On top that, there are roughly the same amout who use English as second or third language.And let’s not forget about technologies. Nowadays, it’s hard to find a device without built-in English interface. Is is also considered as the language of international business. In my honest opinion, I’d recommend to learn as many languages as possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s French, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin, Korean or any other language. It breaks the language barrier between people. Few years ago, some teacher of mi ne told me that I have to learn as many languages as possible because it is my treasure. The treasure that cannot be taken away from me.Since then I usually visualize language as a key that unlocks the world to me. Knowing other languages greatly increases the number of people on the globe with whom you can communicate. You can have friends, pen pals and spouses from all over the world. In addition, people with multilingual skills look more attractive to employers. Chances are that knowing languages will open up employment opportunities that you would not have had otherwise. With greater language skills you can easily raise the amount of your salary.There are other advantages of learning languages. If you know foreign language it gives you the opportunity to step outside your comfort zone and have a deeper understanding of foreign cultures through books, songs and other aspects of culture. Any language is wonderful way to expand your horizon. In conclusion, we are only in the beginn ing of the journey through our life. Let’s not waste our time and learn languages so we can interact with as many people as possible. Any new language is a new opportunity for you.

Integration Conceptual Model Strategic Management Process Business Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3045 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category IT Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Implementing a strategic management process needs some facilitators and infrastructures. One of the most important of these elements is information technology. Since running projects such as strategic management process is almost impossible without utilizing information technology, so identifying the ways that through them information technology can facilitate the strategic management process, can be so beneficial. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Integration Conceptual Model Strategic Management Process Business Essay" essay for you Create order The main purpose of this paper is to introduce some of these ways. First we have a glance at strategic management and information technology and then the role of information technology in each phase of the strategic management process is described. The final part of our paper, presents a conceptual model that illustrates the role of information technology in each phase of strategic management process. Introduction On the light of rapid growth of Information technology (IT), there is a tremendous pressure on organizations to invest huge amount of money on IT. The investment is not necessarily successful. Therefore, managers need to take into account the risks and payoffs in their investment decision-making. In addition, managers have been confronted with conflicting information regarding the outcome of IT investments. It is claimed that IT has a potential role in contributing to sustained competitive advantage Error: Reference source not found,Error: Reference source not found,Error: Reference source not found,Error: Reference source not found. Some researchers [1, 2, 3] argue that IT would be a key resource for sustainable competitive advantage, or at least complement the creation of distinctive advantages. On the other hand, others [4, 5] suggest that companies achieve nothing significant from IT investments. Whilst, it is expected the IT plays its role in the context of organizations, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization by reducing the bounded rationality of decision-making Error: Reference source not found. Despite the potential benefits, questions have been raised as to the realized benefits to IT adoption. From the strategic point of view, understanding the sources of sustained competitive advantage is a strategic imperative for researchers as well as managers Error: Reference source not found,Error: Reference source not found. IT investments have not always been effectively tied to or aligned with organizational goals, strategies, resources or capabilities. Without such a connection, IT investments may indeed represent little more than expensive paperweights Error: Reference source not found or paving the existing cow paths Error: Reference source not found. Coff and Laverty Error: Reference source not found note that strategic assets are often not appreciated because the benefits they provide are ambiguous or uncertain. As a result , increased attention needs to be focused on clarifying the relationships among intervening variables between IT investment and firm performance Error: Reference source not found,Error: Reference source not found. In order to better understand ITs role in competitive advantage, it is identify the chain of variables between IT investments and firm performance in strategic management Error: Reference source not found,Error: Reference source not found. This paper is aimed to introduce some facilitators and techniques that each one can be helpful in a special stage of strategic management process. Remaining parts of this paper are organized as follow: First, strategic management is briefly introduced in Section 2. The next section is devoted to an overview of Information Technology. Then, introducing the methods and techniques that can be useful in different levels of strategic management process, are the main parts of our paper. Strategic management Strategic management is rather a new field of knowledge. Its origin goes back to the work of two pioneers, Andrews and Chandler Error: Reference source not found. Andrews examined the process of strategy development. Chandler examined the links between strategy of organizations and their structure. The formulation-implementation model of Bower et al. Error: Reference source not found, and the analysis-choice-implementation model of Johnson and Scholes Error: Reference source not found are the two early followers of pioneers. In the 1980s Porter Error: Reference source not found,Error: Reference source not found applied concepts from industrial organization economics. He coined the term competitive advantage, developed the key concepts of focused and differentiated generic strategies as a means of gaining competitive advantage, and identified the value chain of activities of an organization as one of the key influencers of an organizations strategy. Also in the 1980s another move ment began that suggested that the process of strategy formulation and implementation did not take place separately. Instead it was suggested that formulation and implementation take place together in an incremental way Error: Reference source not found. It is also suggested that strategy emerges out of the process of strategy making Error: Reference source not found. In the late 1980s the focus of attention of strategy researchers moved from the position of organizations in the marketplace to the internal capabilities of the organization. Prahalad and Hamel Error: Reference source not found suggested that firms were successful because they had a small number of core competences that they were exceptionally good at and which allowed the organization compete in a number of different markets. Much of the strategic thinking in the early 1990s focused on improving operational effectiveness Error: Reference source not found and in this era movements such as total quality management an d business process reengineering Error: Reference source not found gained ground. Recent research has tended to focus more on the speed of change in the business world and the difficulty that firms have in adapting and reacting to a complex, dynamic and fast-changing environment Error: Reference source not found. Beinhocker Error: Reference source not found suggests that strategic thinking can benefit from complexity and evolutionary theories. Markides Error: Reference source not found suggests a dynamic model for strategy-making based on building internal variety, a premise of evolutionary theory. As depicted in ., strategic management encompasses the broad concepts of strategic planning and strategic implementation. The former focuses on the formulation and selection of strategy, the later includes the management and control of strategies in order to fulfill the mission of the organization and to meet goals and objectives. Strategic management Strategy Formulation S trategy Implementation Figure .components of strategic management Within these two components, a number of processes occur to decide a sustainable business strategy. As shown in Figure . Strategic management process [], a useful framework to simplify the conceptualization of the two strategic management components is made up of six elements. Figure . Strategic management process Information Technology Chaffey and Wood Error: Reference source not found described Information Technology as technology resources used for business information management. These resources include software, hardware and telecommunication networks used for managing information. According to Benemati et al. Error: Reference source not found, IT is changing rapidly and considering the increasing strategic impact of IT on business operations, its successful management is of utmost importance. Irani and Love Error: Reference source not found suggested that for IT management to be successful, it must be perceived as an iterative business process capable of providing organizational learning throughout the lifecycle of the technology. However, even when IT is managed successfully, the question arises, as to what role IT plays in the achievement of organizational strategic goals and objectives. In response to this question, Venkatraman et al. Error: Reference source not found and Franz and Klepper Error: Refer ence source not found postulated that the proper role of IT in an organization is usually characterized as a fit or alignment with the strategic goals of the organization. Therefore, IT can only be appropriately aligned when infrastructure put in place to implement the IT strategy is adequate. Also, the IT strategy must support the organizations strategy and business processes. IT in the strategic management context Strategic management is an ongoing process that uses information to assess the organization and its environment. Based on the assessment, strategic management sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors. It then reassesses each strategy periodically and regularly to determine how it has been implemented, and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by new strategy. Therefore, information is a vital input for the strategic management process. In order to clarify the need for information, the following sections devoted to the role of information technology in strategic management process. IT and the organizational purpose The strategic management process begins with the formulation of organizational purpose. Organizational objectives can be strategic, administrative, or operational. Strategic purpose provides the overall direction for the organization. Administrative objectives specify the necessary organizational infrastructure to accomplish the strategic objectives. Operational objectives identify specific work tasks that must be performed Error: Reference source not found. Organizational purpose encompasses vision and mission development. It also covers a definition of strategic goals and objectives of the organization Error: Reference source not found. The reality of vision and mission development and strategic goal and objective setting is typically not only undertaken when organization is in its beginning stages, but also is continually examined and perhaps refined. Now, the question is that how does technology help in the process of vision and mission development and strategic goal and obj ective setting? Developing a mission statement, on the other hand, tends to entail more analytical work, reworking and finalization or consensus within the organization. Hence, ideas need to be communicated and shared. This process may include individuals within a single building or campus setting but may also include individuals in other locations. Mission development may include employees at various levels or roles, as well as constituents such as consultants, shareholders, customers and suppliers Error: Reference source not found. Technology can not only facilitate the expedient discernment of ideas about the mission, but also can act as an instrument for real-time review, refinement and ultimate creation of the mission statement. IT as common as e-mail and on-line collaboration software, as well as tele- and video-conferencing systems, can play a critical role in mission development Error: Reference source not found. The internet and networks are the ultimate facilitators for organizations that work in conjunction with geographically distributed members in order to create, review and refine an important binding guide in the life of the organization. Furthermore, once the mission is finalized, IT acts as a key instrument to communicate the mission not only to all the employees, but also to customers, partners, suppliers and shareholders alike, especially through the use of intranets, extranets and public websites Error: Reference source not found. Without IT, developing and communicating a the mission would be substantially hampered and more costly Error: Reference source not found, and would not reach as wide an audience. As part of the development of the organizational purpose process, strategic goals typically are broad directions the organization wishes to pursue or results it wishes to accomplish within its mission. Logically, the ability to develop goals and objectives requires input not only from many individuals, but also from many data sou rces. Therefore, data must be obtained. Information must be shared. Insight must be gained. Debate and consensus must be pursued in order to agree on rational and achievable goals and objectives Error: Reference source not found. In todays enterprise, where corporate level, business-unit level, and even functional and operational goals and objectives must be developed in a timely manner, IT plays an important role in bridging both stakeholder and information in order to facilitate rationale decision making in this key developmental process. IT and research In order for the organization to develop an appropriate course of action to fulfill the vision, mission, and the strategic goals and objectives it has set for itself, an understanding of both the general external environment and its competitive environment must be developed. Given todays global economic business environment one underscored by speed and change organization would do well to keep abreast and monitor for changes and trends of strategic significance in order to maintain a productive fit. Environmental research enables an organization to monitor and analyze continuously ever-changing external conditions Error: Reference source not found. In order to fulfill the requirements of environmental research, enterprises resort to two major means to gather data and information, primary research and secondary research Error: Reference source not found. Primary research includes gathering information through interaction with people. Techniques typically include gathering infor mation through meetings, one-on-one interviews, focus groups and surveys. While many of these techniques may not be considered high-tech, the internet and the use of web-based surveying techniques are becoming quite popular for primary research. Secondary research includes the gathering of information through literature, publications, broadcast media, electronic new sources, information brokers and distributors, books and other non-human sources. For secondary research, the internet has perhaps become the de facto tool or source for information gathering Error: Reference source not found. Another aspect of environmental research concerns itself with continuous monitoring, learning and insight into the external and internal environment. Major changes in the environment can occur at any time. Additionally, an organization must also monitor the learning of its internal constituents to understand better the external environment Error: Reference source not found. Special groups such as market research and intelligence, competitive intelligence and customer intelligence, among others, have been established in many organizations to explore both the external environment and internal learning Error: Reference source not found. Hence, not only does internet technology (including intranets and extranets) become important, but also other technology, such as knowledge management, business intelligence software, decision support software, play a critical role in disseminating and analyzing vast amounts of data on the environment as well as valuable insights generated internally from the workforce Error: Reference source not found. IT and discovery The analysis of environmental information is crucial for executives to mold the organizations future Error: Reference source not found, Error: Reference source not foundError: Reference source not found. Information is needed about customers, suppliers, competitors, new technologies, the economy, labor markets, the international scene, demographic trends, and political developments Error: Reference source not found, Error: Reference source not found. Executives rely most heavily on external sources for this information (e.g., trade journals, friends in the industry), but internal sources are also used (e.g., managers in marketing). When it comes to strategic environmental information, executives have a limited number of sources which they constantly consult Error: Reference source not found. In the discovery process, key stakeholders in the business, as well as corporate planners, should be given the opportunity to incorporate the environmental data and forecasts developed in th e research process. Individuals within the organization should have the opportunity not only to review the output of the environment research, but also to assess the organizations internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external threats and opportunities in light of the data. The ultimate outcome of the discovery process is indeed about the future. While the forecasts developed in the research phase present static data about the future, or the what, scenarios are developed to better understand a dynamic element of the future, or the events describing why and how the future might evolve. Scenarios are devices for ordering ones perceptions about alternative environments within which ones decisions might be played out in the future. The goal is to develop at least two or three credible scenarios of the future, including anticipated and unanticipated scenarios, thus setting the stage for which strategies might be developed to thrive in each alternative scenario Error: Reference so urce not found. The biggest benefit of technology in the discovery process is making data and information available to those who need it. For example, Nokia involves upwards of 250 employees in its strategy process Error: Reference source not found. Technologies such as specialized databases, made available through intranet systems, are apparently simple, yet important tools to help facilitate discovery Error: Reference source not found. Sophisticated enterprises have developed specialized research and discovery databases with navigational aids, e-mail and e-mail alerts, feedback mechanisms and reports that summarize changes in the environment on a continual and real-time basis. Furthermore, advanced data mining, data visualization and business intelligence software prove extremely useful not only to mine internal databases, but also to help find patterns and trends in the data that may reveal critical aspects useful in crafting or modifying strategies Error: Reference source not found. IT and opportunity identification A typical approach, in the opportunity identification process, is to develop teams of researchers, executives and managers to evaluate the output of the research and discovery phases Error: Reference source not found. Hence, market opportunities must be defined against the plausible future scenarios. Not only must markets be defined, but also their relative attractiveness which may include the market outlook, competitive landscape and fit with the various scenarios created in the discovery process. The key thrust of this process is to engage the sum experience, knowledge and intuition of a variety of individuals within the organization, in order to develop a robust set of strategic choices that the organization may or may not choose to pursue Error: Reference source not found. This stage of the strategic management process includes a wide variety of techniques Error: Reference source not found, including brainstorming, worksheet input, meetings, teleconferencing, videoconferenci ng, and information distribution and presentation Error: Reference source not found. The tasks necessary to create a range of strategic choices can be tedious and time consuming. IT, obviously, plays a critical role here, particularly in plotting, disseminating and presenting work from a variety of individuals and teams. Databases, packaged software, e-mail, the internet and private networks Error: Reference source not found are critical to the opportunity identification process. IT and recommendations The recommendations process is that stage where strategic decisions must be made. Ultimately, in any strategy formulation exercise, an organization is trying to make decisions on where it is going to play, how it is going to win and how it is going to sustain an advantage in its markets Error: Reference source not found. At this stage, a range of strategic options, which may or may not be valid, have been plotted in the option prioritization framework for further evaluation and the organizations choice of strategic positioning is decided in the recommendations process Error: Reference source not found. In this phase of strategic management process the different strategies are then evaluated on various financial and non-financial criteria and the best strategies are selected for implementation Error: Reference source not found. Information systems such as Executive information systems (EISs) Error: Reference source not found and OLAP (On-line Analytical Processing)